Game Notes

Wed., Dartmouth (4-3-1, 4-3-1 ECAC, 3-1-0 Ivy) at Harvard (5-3-1, 5-3-0 ECAC, 2-2-0 Ivy), 7 p.m.
Livestats
Live Video (with subscription)

Due to technical difficulties at WFRD, 99.3 FM will not be broadcasting tomorrow night's game.

Sat., Dartmouth (4-3-1, 4-3-1 ECAC, 3-1-0 Ivy) at Vermont (5-6-1, 1-4-1 Hockey East), 7 p.m.
Dartmouth Audio

HANOVER, N.H. - The Dartmouth women's hockey team looks to build on its first weekend sweep, but it will not come easy with a midweek matchup at 10th-ranked Harvard tomorrow night, followed by a Saturday contest against an improved Vermont squad.

TWO-STRAIGHT, HOPING FOR MORE
The Big Green came through last weekend and earned a much-needed four points with wins over Brown and Yale. Dartmouth achieved the sweep convincingly, outscoring its Ivy League counterparts, 11-4. Now the competition gets steeper with long-time rival and 10th-ranked Harvard on Wednesday and an improved Vermont squad following the holiday on Saturday night.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN
Dartmouth continues to be on the outside looking in when it comes to the national polls. The Big Green is receiving votes and is 12th in the newest USCHO.com Poll. The scoring has gotten better as of late. Dartmouth is on the plus side of the scoring margin for the first time this season averaging 3.25 goals per game, while giving up 2.5.
   
After a seven-point outburst last weekend and ECAC Player of the Week honors, senior co-captain Sarah Parsons leads the Big Green with 12 points on five goals and a team-high seven assists. Joining her at the top is junior Amanda Trunzo who quietly has 10 points and is tied for the team lead with six goals. Freshman Camille Dumais has been a real surprise for Dartmouth with three goals and six helpers for nine points. Two of the three scores have come on the power play and she is tied with senior co-captain Jenna Cunningham for the team lead. Just like Trunzo, sophomore Kelly Foley has been under the radar for the Big Green with two goals and six assists for eight points. Cunningham was one of the highlights over the weekend as she recorded her 100th career point in a Dartmouth uniform with two goals against Yale on Saturday night. She is tied with Trunzo for tops on the team in goals with six scores, including two on the power play.
   
In net, freshman Whitney Woodcox earned her first collegiate win with 20 saves on Friday night in the 5-2 win over Yale. She has recorded a 3.50 goals against average and a .870 save percentage in two games played. Senior Mariel Lacina got back to the .500 mark at 3-3 with a victory over Yale, making 23 saves. Her goals against average sits at 2.15 and she has a .910 save percentage.

CUNNINGHAM NETS MILESTONE
She stood at 93 points at the start of the season and fired a hat trick in the second game and then stuttered for a few games. With 99 points, she broke through with a pair of goals against Yale in the first period to reach and overtake the 100 point career mark. Amazingly, her output is as even as it gets with 51 goals and 50 assists in 93 games played.

BIG GREEN SCORING LINE UP
It’s usually rare to see each class contributing evenly throughout a team, especially with the factor of experience. Well, Dartmouth is changing that trend. The Big Green top four scorers are from four different classes. Senior Sarah Parsons is tops, followed by junior Amanda Trunzo and freshman Camille Dumais, with sophomore Kelly Foley rounding out the top four.

WEEKEND FILLED WITH FIRSTS
Many Big Green skaters achieved career firsts this past weekend. Sophomore Jenna Hobeika netted her first collegiate goal at Brown, while classmate Erica Dobos earned her first career point with an assist on the same power play goal. Freshman Lisa Berreman became the third first-year skater to tally a point this year with an assist against Brown.

TOUPAL TALLIES TWO
Senior Sarah Toupal came through for the Big Green with a pair of goals against No. 10 Princeton on Nov. 13. It was a career high for Toupal, who has played more games than any teammate with 108 games played in three-plus seasons. She is also the only one over 100. Both of her goals came as insurance with one in the second period and the other as an empty net score with 34 seconds remaining.

NANJI BREAKS THROUGH
Freshman Sasha Nanji is a blueliner, but showed her offensive skills against Princeton and Quinnipiac with a total of three points in the two games. She tallied her first collegiate goal to give Dartmouth a 1-0 lead in the first and assisted on a power play goal from Toupal. Nanji added a single assist on the Big Green’s lone goal against the Bobcats. She leads all backliners with six points this season and was rewarded with Dartmouth Athlete of the Week honors.

DUMAIS ON THE POWER PLAY
Freshman forward Camille Dumais has made her impact felt on a power play that has had its problems early on in the season. Dumais has tallied two goals with the extra skater. The first came in the second period against St. Lawrence to tie the game at 2-2 as she hooked up with rookies Nanji and Sally Komarek. The second goal was insurance in the third with 9:15 remaining as Komarek and junior Katie Horner helped seal the deal over the Saints on Nov. 6.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
Tenth-ranked Harvard enters the pre-Thanksgiving showdown with a record of 5-3-1 overall and a 5-3-0 mark in conference play. Just like the Big Green, the Crimson is coming off a weekend sweep of Ivy rivals Brown and Yale. Harvard skated away from its neighbors to the south with an offensive attack that outscored its opponents 10-1.
   
Junior Kate Buesser is the team leader in points with 13 on the year as she is the lone player with double-digit points. She is tied with freshman Jillian Dempsey with five goals and Buesser has eight assists. Dempsey has contributed with helpers of her own with four on the year. The scoring has came from many sources with 14 difference skaters tallying points and nine with five or more points. The power play has been a struggle after posting just five goals in 38 chances for a 13 percent success rate. The box has not been kind for the Crimson either. In nine games played, Harvard has been in the box 45 times for 90 penalty minutes, but opponents have only scored four times.
   
In net, senior Christina Kessler has appeared in all nine games with two shutouts and a 5-3-1 mark. Her 1.45 goals against average is fifth in the nation and second in conference, while she is fourth in the country in save percentage at .941. In her career, Kessler has reached 60 wins, to only 14 losses and a career 1.36 goals against average.

SERIES HISTORY
Harvard has played the Big Green more than any other opponent in the history of the Dartmouth women’s hockey program. This will be the 78th meeting between the Big Green and Crimson. Dartmouth holds a slim 42-32-3 advantage in the series. In the postseason the records are even closer with the Big Green on top with eight wins to Harvard’s seven. The Crimson have owned the rivalry lately with nine wins in the last 11 contests, but Dartmouth came out on top in the final meeting of the 2008-09 season with a 3-0 shutout victory.

SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
Vermont is a much improved squad from a year ago with a 5-6-1 record after posting just seven wins all of last year. The Catamounts started the season with four wins in their first six games, including a win over currently ranked Clarkson with a 4-1 victory on Oct. 17. Since then Vermont has dropped five of their last seven and is coming off a 3-3 tie against Boston College on Nov. 20
   
Sophomore Kailey Nash is the team leader in points with 11 on eight goals and three assists. Seven of her team best eight goals have come on the power play, which leads the nation. Vermont’s strength has become its power play as the Catamounts are ninth in the country with 14 goals in 73 opportunities for a 19.2 success rate. Vermont also spreads out its scoring, like the Crimson, with 17 players with at least one point and nine recording four or more. Senior Brittany Nelson is one of those nine as she has seven points on the year with three goals and four assists. Two goals have come on the man advantage and two have been game-winners. Sophomore Erin Barley-Maloney is tops on the team in assists with seven this season.    

In net, Kristen Olychuck has been the other skater between the pipes for the Catamounts. She has posted a 2.49 goals against average and a .892 save percentage and one shutout.

SERIES HISTORY
Vermont has been a regular on the Dartmouth schedule since 1978 as the two teams will be meeting for the 35th time. The Big Green has dominated the series with a 31-3-0 record over the Catamounts. Dartmouth is currently riding a 29-game winning streak against Vermont with the last Catamount victory coming back in 1981. The Big Green almost saw its streak come to an end two years ago with Vermont taking Dartmouth to overtime, but the Big Green pulled out the 4-3 victory.